Siemens partners with Stratasys to incorporate additive manufacturing in volume production

Robotic demonstrator illustrates the 3D additive manufacturing Stratasys with motion control from Siemens

Robotic demonstrator illustrates the 3D additive manufacturing capability of Stratasys with all motion control from Siemens, highlighted by the Sinumerik 840Dsl CNC. Photo courtesy of Siemens.

Stratasys and Siemens are working together to integrate Siemens Digital Factory solutions with Stratasys additive manufacturing (AM) solutions.

The formal partnership will help lay the foundation for the integration of 3D printing in traditional manufacturing workflow. The goal for both companies is to have AM become a universally-recognized production practice across many industries.

The two companies are focused on developing features and criteria required to make AM production-volume ready.

Siemens and Stratasys have been collaborating on multiple projects including the direct link from Siemens NX™ software for CAD/CAM/CAE to Stratasys GrabCAD Print platform and the recently previewed Stratasys Robotic Composite 3D Demonstrator that incorporates Siemens product lifecycle management (PLM) software and its motion control and CNC automation technologies, to produce strong, lightweight performance parts.

The 3D Demonstrator is centred on Stratasys' advanced FDM (Fused Deposition Modeling) AM technology synchronized to complex multi-axis motion. Stratasys engineered materials are employed to produce structures that are optimized for weight and performance, resulting in a new hybrid manufacturing approach.

Stratasys Robotic Composite 3D Demonstrator uses Siemens NX software, enabling designers to create parts to be produced on the system, simulate and evaluate the design for manufacturability, and generate and send all the manufacturing instructions for part production.

Stratasys Robotic Composite 3D Demonstrator is driven by the Siemens Sinumerik 840D sl CNC. The integration with Stratasys extrusion control technologies to execute manufacturing instructions from NX CAM, results in a high degree of freedom for robotic FDM extrusion.